The Rutland Yeomanry Cavalry was a

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, raised in Rutland in 1794 and finally disbanded in 1828. The regiment was raised at the instigation of

George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea (4 November 1752 – 2 August 1826), was an important figure in the history of cricket. His main contributions to the game were patronage and organisation but Winchilsea, an amateur, was also a very keen pla ...

, and others following a meeting on 31 March 1794, at

Oakham Castle Oakham Castle is a historic building in Oakham, Rutland. The Castle is known for its collection of massive horseshoes and is also recognised as one of the best examples of domestic Norman architecture in England. It is a Grade I listed building ...

, where it was resolved to form three troops of

light dragoons The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment has a light cavalry role and specialises in mounted and dismounted reconnaissance. The Light Dragoons recruit mainly in Northern England, from the counties of Northu ...

; it was the first regiment to be accepted by the Crown as complete. Unlike the

Leicestershire Yeomanry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two fie ...

, it was not disbanded at the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 but renewed its services. In 1803 the Earl of Winchilsea also raised a rifle company which was attached to the Yeomanry, and together they became the Rutland Legion, a mixed force of volunteer cavalry and infantry. The rifle company was disbanded in 1813, and when the Yeomanry was disbanded in 1828 the Leicestershire Yeomanry began to recruit from Rutland, and no subsequent yeomanry regiment was raised. The Rutland Yeomanry should not be confused with the Rutland Fencible Cavalry, a different regiment also raised at this time. The Riding School built in

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

for the Rutland Fencibles now houses the

Rutland County Museum Rutland County Museum is located in Oakham, Rutland, in the old Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry which was built in 1794–95. The museum, opened in 1969, houses a collection of objects relating to local rural and agricultural ...

. It was built for the Rutland Fencibles by the MP Gerard Noel Edwards in 1794–1795.

References

* Includes chronological index of titles. * Steppler, Glenn A. - ''Britons, to Arms! - The Story of the British Volunteer Soldier and the Volunteer Tradition in Leicestershire and Rutland''. Alan Sutton, Stroud, 1992 * Clough, T H McK, The Riding School of the Rutland Fencible Cavalry, ''Rutland Record'' 15 (1995), 213-227. {{Authority control Yeomanry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1794 Military history of Rutland 1794 establishments in Great Britain Oakham